


Love Lane Cottage

by littlemisscurious



Series: Tom, Emmy, Ben, Ellie, Paula, Max and Sophie [26]
Category: Actor RPF, British Actor RPF, Tom Hiddleston - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Family, Fluff, Gen, Holiday, daddy!Tom, prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-08
Updated: 2014-01-14
Packaged: 2018-01-08 01:20:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1126706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlemisscurious/pseuds/littlemisscurious
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>based on a prompt I received on tumblr; featuring the characters from the Christmas Challenge</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part 1

 

It was still early in the morning when Tom steered the car down the gravelly driveway leading up to the cottage by the beach. They had left London in the middle of the night for the six hour drive down to Cornwall in order to have a full day ahead of them when they arrived at their holiday destination. And though she had tried her best to stay awake and keep him company, Paula was now fast asleep on the passenger seat just like Emmy and Ben who were snoring away quietly in the back seat of the car.

Turning off the engine, Tom turned towards the sleeping woman by his side. “Hey sleepyhead, time to wake up.” Gently, he wiped a strand of hair out of her face and kissed her softly on the cheek as her eyelids fluttered open. “Hm, what is it?” Confused, Paula looked around until her eyes met Tom’s. “We’re there. Time to wake up,” he smiled, his hand still lingering on her cheek. “Oh dear, did I sleep the entire ride? I am so sorry,” she breathed apologetically but he simply shook his head and kissed her briefly before he left the car to stretch his aching limbs.

 

For a moment Paula remained in the car and watched him, biting her lip with a shy smile as his shirt rode up to reveal the smooth skin of his stomach and the faint line of hair leading down from his navel. She blushed a bit as she thought of the previous night when she had traced that very trail of hair with her lips and tongue, tasting the sweetness of his skin.

Tom stretched his face towards the warm morning sun shining down from the clear, blue sky while the sea breeze ruffled up his hair and clothes. He sighed with a content smile as Paula wrapped her arms around him from behind shortly after and leaned her head against his shoulders. “I can’t wait to have breakfast in the sun before we go swimming in the ocean, have barbecues in the evening and go skinny dipping in the moonlight,” he mumbled, his hands intertwined with hers resting on his stomach. “Mhmm, sounds lovely,” she whispered against his skin, breathing a kiss onto his neck. “Oh, and Ben wants to learn how to swim this summer,” he added quietly as he turned around in her embrace, his hands coming to rest on the small of her back. “Then you should probably teach him,” she grinned, playing with the hem of his shirt.

A quiet knock on the car window attracted his attention and Tom laughed as Emmy waved at him from the inside of the car with slightly tired eyes but beaming smile on her pretty, little face. “And the monsters have awoken,” he mumbled into Paula’s ear with a grin, making her laugh while he opened the car door for his children.

***

“Sweetheart, I think you are wearing your swimsuit the wrong way around,” Tom chuckled as Emiliana entered the kitchen in her bright pink swimsuit, her towel draped around her shoulders like a cape fluttering in the breeze which wafted through the house due to all the open doors and windows. Confused she scanned her body, wearing the swimsuit indeed back to front, ere she walked over to her father so he could sort this little dilemma out. Lovingly, he pressed a kiss onto her forehead and helped her get dressed properly, Emiliana grinning up at him cheekily when they were finished. “Do I look pretty now?,” the little girl asked, climbing onto her father’s lap. “Oh yes, you look very pretty, my dear,” Tom confirmed and the beaming smile returned to her face once more.

“Do you think we will see any mermaids, Daddy?,” Emiliana inquired and Tom scratched his head, obviously deep in thought about the subject matter. “Hm, I don’t know. I would have thought they live further out in the ocean and don’t really come that close to the beach so as not to get stranded. What do you think?” He wrapped his arms around his daughter as she cuddled up to him, breathing in the peachy scent of her shampoo. “Hm, maybe they’ll come to say hello. That would be nice, wouldn’t it? I always wanted to tell Ariel that she’s got really pretty hair,” Emmy mumbled, pulling on the cords of Tom’s swimming trunks. “I tell you what. We’ll see if they come to say hello over the next few days and if not, we’ll prepare a letter in a bottle which we’ll throw out into the ocean so they can find it and read it. Does that sound like a plan?,” he grinned and the little girl nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, let’s do that, Daddy!”

***

“Don’t go into the water without me, Ben, alright? I’ll be there in a minute.” Adjusting his sunhat, the little boy nodded and with his bucket and shovel firmly in his hands, he walked off to the edge of the water, the waves rolling slowly onto the shore, tickling his toes. He was determined to find a treasure this year as clearly pirates must have hidden one somewhere if the stories he had been listening to at home were true. The Famous Five always found a treasure or something else that was exciting when they were together and this summer Benjamin was hoping he’d find something himself. Slowly, he tiptoed through the wet sand, trying to find any hints among the seashells but nothing looked suspicious enough for him to start digging. In order to not leave the beach empty handed, though, he decided to collect the prettiest seashells he could find so that he could make a necklace for Emmy and Paula once they went home.

“Alright, darling, don’t roll around in the sand just yet, okay? Let the sunscreen dry frist,” Tom smiled after putting the lotion on his daughter’s skin. Emiliana nodded with a smile and he placed her sunhat on her curls before she crawled over onto her own towel under the parasol, playing with the dolls she had brought along. “Would you do my back, too?,” Paula mumbled, leaning onto his side and he turned towards her with a grin. “Depends on what I get if I do,” he whispered in response, gently biting her earlobe in the process. Paula shrieked quietly and slapped his thigh. “Don’t get cheeky, mister, or you’ll have to sleep in the extra bedroom in the attic tonight,” the young woman threatened him but Tom simply laughed and pulled her between his legs.

 

Smiling at him over her shoulder, Paula tied up her hair and he pressed a gentle kiss right between her shoulder blades, making her blush and avert her gaze. Absentmindedly, she allowed her fingertips to glide over his leg while his hands spread the sunscreen on her back in slow, relaxing motions. “Never stop doing that,” Paula whispered against the sound of the waves and the cries of the seagulls. In that moment she felt truly happy and closing her eyes, she focused only on the touch of his hands, the quiet mumbling of Emiliana on the towel beside them and the sounds of the Cornish seaside around them. There wasn’t a better sound in the world for her.

Long after he was finished applying the sunscreen, Tom still let his hands roam over her back, her skin soft and warm under his touch. Maybe it was just wishful thinking, but he felt younger with Paula in his life, he felt happy. Sure, he loved his children more than anything but for quite a while he had missed a woman by his side, a fellow grown up who he could share his thoughts and experiences with. Someone who would listen to his joys and sorrows, who was able to share the burden of parenthood with him, at least to some extent. And even though she was still young and somehow more a big sister for Emmy and Ben rather than a mother figure, it was enough for him simply to have someone by his side who they looked up to apart from himself. And for everything she was for him and for them, he loved her. He truly did.

***

“Alright, young man, are you ready to meet the sharks?,” Tom laughed, picking up Ben who was shrieking in delight. “There are no sharks, Daddy!,” he corrected his father while he took of his sunhat and gave it to Paula. “Oh, I wouldn’t be sure of that, Ben. Maybe one of them will come and try to eat your toes,” his father winked, tickling his feet at the same time and again, the little boy simply laughed loudly. “Daddy is being funny,” Emiliana grinned, hugging Paula’s leg and the young woman gently ruffled through her curls. “He is, isn’t he. What about us? Shall we go for a swim as well and see if we can find some mermaids, Emmy?” With big, grey eyes the little girl looked up to her ere she nodded enthusiastically and got rid of her dolls and her sunhat by leaving everything on their towels.

Hand in hand they followed Tom and Ben to the water, laughing as the waves rolled over their feet, covering them with a fine layer of sand and seashells. Paula watched her lovingly as Emiliana tiptoed into the water, shrieking every time a wave hit her leg before laughing happily. The sun was still shining brightly from the sky and their little secluded bay was empty except for themselves, one of the advantages of their little Cornish cottage. “Can you pick me up before we go in too deep, Paula?,” Emmy asked with a wide smile and Paula nodded in response, lifting her onto her hip before she walked further into the ocean. “And don’t forget to look out for the mermaids, alright, Emmy?,” she mumbled against her curls and the little one nodded while wrapping her arms around Paula’s neck.

 

“Do you remember the movements you have to make when you want to swim?,” Tom smiled at his son who nodded with a nervous smile. “Okay, so I will hold you while you can try them out in the water, alright? And don’t worry, I won’t let go. I’ve got you,” he assured his son before sinking a little down into the water, his hands safely under Ben’s tummy while the little boy did his best to move exactly how Tom had showed him earlier on. “Yay, that looks great. Well done, Ben. Remember to keep your head up, though, we don’t want you to drink the entire ocean.” Ben laughed loudly at that, probably trying to imagine how long it would take him to actually accomplish that but laughing and waves wasn’t the best combination and he ended up with a load of salt water in his mouth, coughing heavily. “Whoops, sorry buddy. Not the best time to make jokes, eh? There we go, that’s better.” Lovingly, he held his son in his arms, stroking over his back while Ben calmed down. “Do you want to try again?,” he mumbled against Benjamin’s hair and the little boy nodded eagerly before they tried again...and again...and again.


	2. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> for Masha, who always sends such lovely feedback via e-mail :)
> 
> unbeta'd
> 
> tissues might be required

“Hello darling, welcome back,”Tom whispered, his thumb stroking slowly over the back of Paula’s hand. “Hello handsome,” the young woman replied just as quietly, her eyelids heavy and half-closed. “How are you feeling? Do you remember what happened?” A brief silence followed ere she nodded. “I ran in front of a car,” Paula mumbled, closing her eyes once more, exhausted and still drowsy from the medication. “You did indeed. And do you remember why?”

When she looked at Tom again, tears were glistening in his eyes even though a faint and loving smile still played around his lips. “Because Ben was in danger.” The way she said it - as if it was the most obvious thing in the world and her reaction to it nothing special but the only logical option possible - made him chuckle quietly despite the graveness of the situation.

“You saved his life Paula. You saved my son’s life. Without you, he -” Tom’s voice broke as he imagined this worst-case scenario and he lowered his head to hide the first tears rolling down his cheeks. “Is he okay?,” Paula whispered, carefully lifting her hand, the skin bruised and partly covered by bandages, to stroke his bowed head. Quickly, Tom wiped his tears away with the back of his hand and looked up again. “Yes, yes he is. He’s worried about you, though, and so is Emmy. They are downstairs at the in-house nursery at the moment but they send their love and hope they can come and see you soon.” Paula smiled tenderly. “I am glad they are well. And I’ll be up and about in no time, don’t you worry,” she breathed.

 

_A few hours earlier_

_“Ben, hold on to the ball please, there’s a road further down and I don’t want it to end up underneath a car, you hear me?” Benjamin nodded with a smile, holding tightly onto his rainbow coloured ball that he wanted to take to the beach they were heading to. After spending a couple of mornings at their own little beach, they had decided to look at some of the others on offer and one of them promised to have beach huts and ice cream vans that the children were particularly excited about._

_Carrying a bag with her and Emmy’s things, Paula walked ahead of him, joking around with the little girl who laughed loudly at something she had just said. Tom smiled to himself as he watched his little family on this glorious sunny day. Being so far away from London, far away from work and his laptop, from the pile of scripts lying on his desk waiting to be read, was heavenly and he enjoyed every single second he could spend cuddling with Emmy and Ben or simply kissing Paula whenever he felt like it._

_He winked at her when she threw him a glance over her shoulder, her blond curly hair cascading down her back and the fabric of her turquoise dress fluttering in the gentle breeze. Emiliana was looking up at Paula, her grey eyes sparkling in the morning sunshine, an expression of admiration on her gorgeous little face. She adored Paula and so did Ben. But then again, how could they not with everything she did, everything she was._

_After a little while of walking silently, the noise from the few passing cars further down on the road grew louder and louder, mixing with the crashing of the waves against the shore and the cries of the seagulls circling the sky. For a second his attention wasn’t on Benjamin but instead on the endless blue ocean, wide and peaceful under the sun. It was too late when, in the corner of his eye, he saw the multi-coloured ball roll out of his son’s hands and onto the grey concrete of the road, the little boy, not thinking about the cars but only about his precious toy, running after it without a moment’s hesitation._

_“Emmy, stay where you are!” It had been Paula shouting that, Tom realised as he stood there, motionless, watching the young woman run after Ben who stood transfixed in the middle of the road, holding is ball, his eyes wide and directed at the oncoming car, too fast to come to a halt in time. The bag with Paula’s and Emmy’s clothes lay on the gravelled path, the pink water bottle from his daughter rolling out onto the stones. Then the screeching of tires echoed through the streets ere everything turned silent._

_As if on auto-pilot, Tom dropped his own bag by Emiliana’s side and ran down onto the road, his son, now safely on the other side, sitting on the hard concrete, terrified and shocked, the ball securely on his lap. Paula was lying on the street, cuts and bruises on her arms and legs, her pretty dress dirty and ripped, and blood was seeping from a wound on her head. She had her eyes closed and for a second Tom was almost too afraid to check her pulse. This could not be happening again. Not to them, not to him._

_With shaking fingers, he felt for her wrist, the tip of his index finger searching for the reassuring rhythm of blood being pumped through her veins. A sigh of relief left his mouth when he finally felt it and a tear dropped down onto her hand, mixing with the thin trail of blood on her skin. “Paula? Paula, love, can you hear me? It’s me, Tom. Please open your eyes. Please darling!” Sirens could be heard in the distance and by now a couple of locals had gathered around the scene. Benjamin and Emiliana were both crying, one out of guilt, the other out of shock, and the driver, a young woman, was kneeling on the other side of Paula, apologising again and again and again. Tom didn’t hear what she said. He didn’t listen because he knew it wasn’t her fault. There was nothing she could have done, it all happened way too fast._

 

“There we go. You go and lie down and I’ll get some dinner ready, okay?” It was early evening when Paula had been discharged from hospital and they were now back at Love Lane Cottage. Her head was throbbing but apart from a concussion and some scratches and wounds on her various limbs, she was okay. Carefully, Tom helped her onto a stretcher in the garden, right under one of the small trees offering shade from the summer sun. “Thanks,” she whispered with a smile, closing her eyes as he pressed a gentle kiss onto her forehead before vanishing inside through the open kitchen door.

Quiet and very hesitant footsteps in the grass announced a smaller visitor to her sickbed and she opened her eyes once more to see Ben standing a few metres away, looking like he was on the verge of tears. “Hey buddy, you want to come and cuddle?,” Paula smiled at him and he nodded slowly. Careful, so as not to disturb her bandaged wounds, she pulled him close to her and it didn’t take long before he was sobbing quietly into her shirt. “Ben, don’t cry. Everything’s okay, love. Everything’s fine, you hear me?,” she breathed against his hair but his shoulders didn’t stop shaking and his tears didn’t subside.

“I am so sorry, Paula. So, so sorry. I didn’t want you to be hurt. I didn’t see the car coming, I just wanted to fetch my ball,” he choked out in between his sobs, raising his head to look at her properly. “I know Ben, and I don’t blame you, sweetheart. I am just so very happy that you are okay and nothing happened to you, you hear me? I love you so much, my darling, and I just want you to be safe. And next time when your ball rolls onto the road, just wait for me or your Daddy and as soon as it’s safe we’ll go and get it for you, okay?” Gently, she wiped a few tears away from his cheek, still holding him close despite her aching body. “Okay,” Ben whispered, nodding faintly. His face was already halfway buried in her shirt again when he added a quiet, ”I love you too, Paula.”

 

“Emmy, have you seen your brother anywhere?,” Tom asked with a smile, cutting some bread for their dinner while his daughter was drawing a picture at the dining table. “I think he’s outside. He wanted to apologise to Paula,” the little girl informed him, looking up from her drawing for a moment. “Thanks love,” he smiled and stepped over to the door to check on his girlfriend and son. “She saved his life, didn’t she, Daddy?” Quietly, Emmy had slipped off her chair and now she stood next to him, her small hand holding his. Tom picked her up and pressed a kiss onto her cheek. “Yes, she did Emmy.” The little girl nodded, leaning her head onto his shoulder while they both gazed out into the garden overlooking their little private beach. “That was really brave of her. One day I want to be as brave as Paula. And I want to be as pretty as she is because she’s really pretty, Daddy. Even with that bandage thingy around her head.”

Tom chuckled quietly as he leaned onto the doorway with Emmy in his arms. “So, do you think I picked the right one then?” With twinkling eyes, she lifted her head again, her arms still wrapped around his neck, and nodded. “I know she’s not our real Mummy but maybe if we ask Mummy, Paula could be her replacement. You know, because Mum can’t be with us any longer. Maybe she sent Paula instead to look after us and so that you are not lonely anymore.” He had to swallow hard to suppress the tears falling from his eyes as he looked at his little one, so earnest and genuinely worried for him. “You know what, Emmy? I think you’re right. That would be very much like your Mummy, sending Paula to look after us, I mean. She was always very protective of those she loved so...so I hope she’s looking over us now, smiling at what she’s achieved.”

With a proud smile, Emiliana nodded and kissed him loudly on the lips ere she wiggled in his arms so he would put her down. Tom took a deep breath as she ran over to Ben and Paula, carefully climbing on the stretcher as well ere he looked up into the warm, orange evening sky hoping for an affirmation of his beloved wife. Maybe it was time he stopped feeling guilty. Maybe it was time he forgave himself for all the things that weren’t his fault.


End file.
